


baby it’s cold outside

by CheethamCouldNever



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Hamburr, I know you are horny but no, Kissing, No Sex, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:49:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24506449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheethamCouldNever/pseuds/CheethamCouldNever
Summary: Erin is a barista who just wanted to close her shift on Christmas Eve and go home but Alexandra is insufferable and REALLY in need of some coffee right here and now.
Relationships: Aaron Burr & Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr/Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson/James Madison
Kudos: 17





	baby it’s cold outside

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I hate my English grammar too.  
> Sorry :(

“...Will you close out the shift?”

Erin flinched a little, finally tearing her eyes off the window near the rack. Though the windows had been cleared earlier its has been already covered in a frosty haze which children enjoy to scratch with nails. White snow flakes are falling lazily on the ground just barely covering it.

To be honest she doesn't really understand why they should work on Christmas Eve. Hell who even wants to go to Starbucks on the Christmas Eve when there's strong need to prepare a dinner, make sure house is ready for guest’s arrival and valuable or dangerous stuff has been hidden from curious nephews? There is always a chance that you could have forget to buy some presents and will have to stand in this endless queues. Burr totally isn’t jealous of the last ones.

“Yes, you can go. I'll make sure everything is okay.”

“I'm so sorry”. On Jamie’s face flourished shy smile while she was wrapping her scarf around the neck. “I know today is my turn but Thomasina wants me to meet her parents and I just—”

“Breath. It's gonna be just fine they'll love you”. She touched colleague’s shoulder squeezing it a little just to stop mumbling.  
They definitely don't need an asthma attack right now.

“You think so?”

And there is this frightened expression again. Burr laughed shortly just couldn’t help yourself. Gosh, Madison and her nerves are something. Telling the truth she hardly understands how the girl can stand someone like Jefferson. Erin saw Thomasina only a few times and she have had enough of her for the lifespan.

She doesn’t has enough money for a therapist.

“Sure, they gonna be happy that someone will finally take Thomasina from them. I bet they have already started to think about staging a kidnapping.” 

And finally Madison is laughing, taking her bag from the floor. “Thanks Erin, and for help either. See you after Christmas? We could grab some tea and walk a bit”

Erin nodded briefly and waved goodbyes.

They won't see each other. Not casually and obviously not without a reason. She is a smart girl and doesn't try to trick yourself, they are not friends.  
It's just not a big deal for her to stay at work today as in every other day. It just happens to be like this. There's no one she could actually spend Christmas with. Yeah, sure, she can fly to New Jersey anytime, to her uncle but it isn't much better than staying here by yourself.

Depressingly and lonely.

No, thanks. She can live without it. Yes, she have to stay at work for a little while longer but at least Jamie will have a great night. Yes, there's no Christmas tree at her home but she has a bottle of red wine (not necessary one), Hawaiian pizza and next season of How to get away with murder.

She's gonna be just fine. She always is.

*

It's 11 o’clock when she finally took her apron off and put it down on the closest table. Everything in the cafe is perfectly clear and there's this light smell of cleaning product in the air. That's how Burr likes this place better, empty from people and quite.

If she hurries a bit she will make it home before midnight, maybe she will even have a chance to get some rest in the metro if a wagon will be empty. Well, she isn’t counting on it very much but that would be nice and—

The bells over the door rang and something stormed in the Starbucks, looking so much like a flooding of books and fabric that Erin didn’t understand it’s a girl until she came closer. Almost all of her body is hidden under a huge green parka with many badges and it’s the only thing which makes her looking big.

Snow flakes are slowly melting in her hair.

“Miss, I'm sorry we are closed, you can’t—”

“I know, I know”. One second and girl’s hands fled up in the air and the next second all of her books started falling. “Shit—”. She tried to stop them from falling and really managed to catch one. Only one book. Not so impressive.

“Gotcha! Keep forgetting this kind of stuff. I should take my bag everywhere just in case well like when you decide to stop by a bookshop. You know, when you aren’t really gonna buy books but then you take one from a shelf and the next second you are in a queue with a pile of them. Maybe their employers are trained to do hypno—”

One bottle of wine won't fix it.

“Miss, I'm really sorry but we are closed”

“Yeah, I know but I really need coffee in my system right now, have a mercy, my neighbor have broken my coffeemaker and I can't handle this day without caffein.”

“Technically this day is almost over”

On one second girl’s pretty face cringed in something very unpleasant like Erin is the one stupid here.

Stop, “pretty”? Where did this one come from, again?

“Technically I’m gonna fall asleep in the closest alley if there will be no espresso in my body soon. Please I've been kicked out of the three different places already, I’m starting to lose faith in Christmas miracle”

Burr almost hates yourself for the small chuckle she made.

Girl hold her hands in a pleading gesture feeling that the prey is hesitating, almost looking like an animal on a hunt when it feels smell of blood.

Erin has always been that person who always tries to please everyone.  
And that girl is cute which makes this situation even more difficult.

Unfair.

“Fine”

The expression of heavenly grief washed away quickly from girl’s face like it have never been there. “Thanks! You are my hero and I solemnly swear to bring you a medal. Well, a chocolate medal but it still counts, right?”

Stop talking.

Burr walked around the rack and put one of this red special edition’s cups on the table, looking at girl expectantly. “I guess it's gonna be espresso, right?”

“Yeah, make it double, please, I really need energy right now”. She put her books on a table, loudly smacking its on each other.

“Name?”

“Oh, Alex. Alexandra Hamilton. It's me. That's my name”

"Yeah, I got this one”. She smiled a bit hearing a small chuckle and scribbled girl’s name on the cup before putting it into a coffee machine. “Have you decide to leave buying presents for the last moment?” Erin slowly straightened and nodded eloquently in the direction of books.

“Mghm? Oh, that's for me actually. Nobody gonna give you a better present than one you can give yourself”. The whole time she was speaking Alex non-stop picked her badges, pulled parka’s sleeves and pushed her long hair backwards.

It is hard to look at her without feeling stressed.  
And Burr still doesn't get paid enough for it.

“I guess. Any big plans on the night why you decided to kill your chances to sleep?”

It’s probably a bad question cause Alex’s smile faded a little.

“No, not really. My first intention was to spent it with my friends but they are fucking assholes. They left to see their families can you believe it? Well, to be fair my friend John asked me to come with him in South Carolina but I’d rather die so..”

“So you are buying books”

“Yeah”. Hamilton twitched shortly before flopped in a chair near the table. And she is smiling again, a bit more enthusiastically. “And I’m gonna drink coffee in a company of a gorgeous woman so I assume it’s a win win”

Erin slowly arched an eyebrow and looked her up and down. 

Gorgeous? Well.

“And who did say that?”

“Well, you are still listening to me instead of going home aren’t you?”

Smug little shit.

She turned around, took another red cup from the shelf, not wasting time on signing it, and put it in the machine near the first one. There's no need looking to know that Alex is smiling.

*

“…Let me make it clear: you volunteered to work late on Christmas Eve? Like by your own free will?”

Erin smiled shortly in her cup. “As you may see”

“That’s dumb. I mean no, not dumb”. She got quiet for a moment, understanding what exactly she said or just seeing Erin’s expression, and corrected yourself quickly. “But girl you could do so much better. There’s a lot of good bars you could at least have a company”

“I’m not exactly a big fan of bars. And I appreciate every single minute which I can spend not in a company of a sweaty drunk men”

Alex moved uncomfortably in her place climbing deeper in the chair with her legs. Her fingers are covered in ink and almost fully hidden in sleeves of a button-down and she looks even smaller than Burr thought earlier.

“Well, I would be in one of its either so you could have a chance to meet me. I assure you it’s a good chance”

“You are not that charming"

Hamilton stretches her arm and playfully puts her hand to the chest.

“Yikes. That was rude Burr how could you?”

“Can you be serious like for a few minutes?”

“I’m always serious you should have noticed. So what was your plan then? I mean before I stormed out in your lif—”

“In the cafe”

“Still close tho. So?”

Erin’s fingers closed lightly around the cup. It's still hot enough and she can warm her hands with it. There is nothing good in perspective to go in the cold night and there's nothing good in returning to an empty home either.

At least there's Alexandra who isn’t in a hurry and has no problem to speak for both of them. It's… nice. Helps to feel much calmer actually. “Nothing big, just some tv shows, maybe a little wine. I wasn’t planning to stay late, it was a long day”

When Burr finally took her eyes from the table she noticed short glimpses Hamilton was throwing in her direction. A bit unsure, almost shy. But maybe she’s just imagining it. It was indeed a very long day.

"Sounds nice actually. So.. no boyfriend?”

Erin was quiet for a few seconds, just looking at the girl with curious expression.

“No”

“I see. No girlfriend?”

“No”

“You are lying how could you don’t have a girlfriend?”

“I really don’t”. Okay, it’s starting to be a bit awkward. And was it always this hot in here? “And do you?”

“Of course, I don’t.. I mean yeah I had a boyfriend some time ago, John, but we work better as friends”

“I see”

It’s just stupid. They aren't going to sit like that and just watch each other in silence, right?

“We are still renting an apartment together you know it's much cheaper this way and he can cook. It's pretty cool he can do it I can't cook shit I would starve to death. But after he broke my coffee maker I’m not sure I can trust him my life anymore” Alex wrinkled her nose, displeased, and took a sip from her cup.

“Sounds like he’s a really good friend so I would suggest you to try trusting him again. And you clearly have an addiction to caffein”. Erin said flatly but there’s a smile on her face. “Someone have ever told you that you could take a break? You look like you could take some good sleep”

She means it this girl looks like she can pass out on a street. When Hamilton said it earlier it apparently wasn’t a joke.

“Oh, please save it mommy”. And there was clear displease in her voice this time which means she says it very often. Which honestly makes sense, Alexandra looks restless enough. She can’t imagine how hard it must be for her closest to deal with her in this moody busy state. “My state is proper enough. I’m fresh, productive and social active. I don’t need a life coach so if you don’t mind—”

“Sure. So how much do you sleep then?”

It’s funny to see how much Alex flinched from that. “Ghm.. Four hours? What? I don’t like to sleep. Waste of a time”

“You can do your stuff later. There will be other time”

“There’s always not enough time. Just drop it”. Alex waves her hand dismissively.

Erin shook her head and moved closer with her chair watching the girl with her usual patience. “Alexandra, it's not healthy. You can wear yourself out with it to the state when you wouldn't wake up with your alarm clock and would sleep during your work time. There will be no good not for you not for people who care about you. I know it's not my place to tell you that kind of stuff and it's not very polite but still. You don't have to deal with it all the time and by your own. It's just.. It would be nice if you just let people help you and take a break that's all I'm saying”.

Hamilton is silent for a few seconds just searching the wall behind Erin. Obviously the girl zoned out a little before she looked up at her again, tension streaming of her shoulders and the whole posture a bit helpless.

“Any other good ideas of what I should do?”

Burr is watching the girl unsure for a few seconds biting her lip. It's surprising that silence is lasting this long while she is looking at Alexandra questioning her decision.

In truth this evening is the best of this month. Maybe it is even the best of the whole year. Just because of it. Just because she had a chance to meet Alex cause she took that stupid shift today to help Jamie with Thomasina. Should she call it a destiny? She isn't sure. But she knows for sure she’d really enjoy to talk with Hamilton more. Not only today just... more.

So maybe it’s worth a try after all?

“You should smile more. It suits you”

For a second the only thing she can see is the way Alex froze in a spot, eyes wide and shining and she really should just apologize and shamefully run away.  
And in the next second girl is crossing space between them and their lips are touching. It’s gentle, barely there kiss but it’s nice kiss anyway, much nicer than that one with Johanna two months ago and Hamilton tastes like bittersweet coffee. It’s yummy taste much better than coffee itself.

When Burr finally let yourself to open eyes Alex is staring at her with concern, blushing prettily. Burr really wants to kiss her red cheek and see if it can become even redder.

“Ghm.. so Erin.. can I.. can I buy you a drink? Not coffee I mean if you want it's fine but I thought about something more alcoholic like wine. Or tea. Maybe juice? Shit am I mumbling? Sorry I just.. I would really love to see you again and.. of course if you wan—”

“Alexandra”

“Yeah?”

“Wine would be nice”. It’s really hard to think when Alex is still so close.

“Really? Gosh thanks” girl’s face brightened and she fidgeted excitedly in her place. “I thought you gonna kick me out on cold”

Burr chuckled softly and poked her hand softly. “Can we go now? It's almost Christmas”

*

“You know I hate Starbucks. It’s pretentious and overrated. And —and it’s the most important part —coffee is terrible there. It’s absolutely tasteless”

“We are almost out of wine and you are telling me this”. Erin looked at Alexandra from behind her glass, furrowing eyebrows. They have finished a bottle of good red wine, successfully started second one and they were in the middle of the fourth episode of How to get away with murder so it’s not the best time for this type of confessions. “I mean I agree it's not the best coffee shop it’s just pretty common and popular but it doesn't really matter. It's just a job. And you came in despite your mortal despise so the Evil corp won”

And Alex is laughing now.

“Oh, I would have never shown up, you underestimate the level of my despise but I saw a beautiful girl through a window so I thought I should try my chances”. She rubbed her loose hair with a hand smiling at Burr openly. “Did it work?”

This is ridiculous, thinks Erin wrapping her arms around Hamilton’s neck.  
Absolutely completely ridiculous.

And she can’t wait to see more of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Let me know what you think.


End file.
